Mel

I have no idea whether this will help but my '66 (Corvette 327 powered) had the same problem, as apparently, did a lot of GM's of that era. (Does this apply to yours? I have no idea.) Apparently, the spring inside the solenoid was a bit strong and would get a bit stronger when hot and lead to the clicking/starter not engaging, yadda, yadda, yadda. (I went through the same things you've done and feel your pain.) According to Jon Meyer, GM actually came out with a factory tech sheet regarding a weaker replacement spring as a fix. In searching old AOAI tech articles, Glenn Bell had addressed this problem in issue 94 on page 23. Summit Racing has a kit, p/n SUM-G1750 which is an external relay and wiring kit which basically ensures that the solenoid gets engaged. I put it on about 5 years ago (very simple procedure) and have not had a single hiccup since. Hope this helps.

When I had my car painted about 10-11 years ago, I took mine off and never replaced it. I've not missed it at all and it's not affected the paint at all.

Thanks for the info. Stay safe.

Suddenly, the idle is a bit rough which smooths out with the brake depressed part way but then gets rough again when depressed fully. At the point of smooth idle, there is a noticeable (screeching) air leak which I can't pinpoint exactly but I believe is coming from the booster. And extra effort is required for braking. No vacuum leaks between the manifold and the booster. I'm pretty sure the booster is not working. Any thoughts/experience? And, any recommendations for a rebuilder. Thanks in advance.

For the rear, I ordered them from Eaton. (Eaton Detroit Springs) I called and was told that they make new springs from factory spec. sheets. Two prices were posted, essentially wholesale and retail. I told the guy he could ship them to a friend's body shop for the wholesale price; he said he'd send them to my door for the wholesale price. He then asked if I wanted the heavy duty version for no extra money. I said OK. In hindsight, I'd probably not go with the heavy duty as it set the backend up pretty high. I then placed 1 1/2" lowering blocks under the axle which brought it down to an even (front to back) height.

What is the trick to removing the wiper arms or is there one? Special tool involved? Thanks.

Thanks, Brad, for the tip. I've seen that before but had forgotten about it. 1inxs: I had a (second) spring setup similar to yours which I felt wasn't doing much besides making the pedal pressure required greater. The air cleaner is what came with the car when I bought it 12+ years ago. Its bottom edge is below the level of the carburetor; hence, the need for the bent linkage. Perhaps I should try to find a different air cleaner which will accomodate the PCV system. Thanks, guys.

My '66 has the Studebaker linkage from the pedal to the top of the engine. The linkage to the carburetor is bent to pass under the air cleaner. (See photo.) Does anyone have a setup that is more direct with less slop and play?

In Stan Gundry's book "What The Shop Manual Won't Tell You" he has a write up on your question on pages 32-33. Basically, he suggests getting a set of red lenses to replace the clear lenses for the backup bulbs. (Apparently red lenses were used in place of the clear lenses for the 84-85 years.) You then parallel wire bulb sockets, which accommodate the 1157 bulbs, and place the bulb sockets in the backup light housing. He suggests a 7.5 amp fuse in the stoplight circuit. He then suggests attaching some halogen lights on either side of the license plate and wiring these in to the backup light circuit. If you primary worry is safety, what I did on mine was (silicon) glue 1/2" and 1" square mirrors, available at craft stores, inside the housings, on top, bottom, sides and back. The metal foil disintegrates but the mirrors make it quite bright. I did this on both the back and front housings. (The 1/2" mirrors fit perfectly on the backs of the front bulb housings.) Also, I have an after-market center mounted brake light in the back window.

This is a follow up to the 'Electrical Plug Location' posting a few weeks back. I was trying to locate the connector plug which feeds the dome lights and trunk light; this plug is located above the steering column not far from the firewall. On the Avantis using the Studebaker wiring harness, you can use a toggle switch, a 12 volt relay and a bit of wire, to have the dome lights turn on/off automatically with the door opening/closing or turned on manually if, for example, the doors are closed. Further, if you wanted to keep the door(s) open for an extended period, the toggle switch can be set to center off and no power will be fed to the lights. I'm in the process of writing this up for the AOAI magazine which will have more detail and some photographs but the wiring diagram is attached here. I'm very pleased with the result.

The plug is located directly above the steering column. The above is basically correct but the grounding of the relay is by #37G which feeds into the plug. I spliced into #36 on the 'downstream' side of the plug and into #37G on the upstream side of the plug. (#37G is grounded through the door switches and feeds into the plug but not out.) Both #36 and #37G can be spliced into with not much more effort than many other things under the dash. The switch, as noted above, is a double throw switch with AUTO-OFF-ON positions. This allows the feed to the dome lights to be controlled by the door opening/closing, turned off completely, or turned on manually. The switches at the dome lights must be ON and can be left on permanently. For judging, the switch can be placed in the manual position and the domes switched turned on/off as required and the courtesy lamp will operate normally. I know the above is not complete as the feed to the hot side of the relay also feeds the center contact of the relay and the downside of #36 feeds the 'engaged' terminal of the relay. I tried describing this above and it made no sense when I read it back. I'll write this up for the AOAI magazine. I'm really pleased with the way it works.

I originally posted this on the '65-'83 section below. On the Studebaker and early II Avanti's, there is an (eight conductor) electrical plug which is drawn just below the 'Courtesy Lamp' which feeds the dome lamps, trunk lamp, gas tank sender unit, etc. Does anyone know where this plug is located? Thanks!

Thanks, Wayne. I emailed Bill, who kindly answered, but he did not remember any specifics of where the plug is. Briefly, what I'm looking at is having a relay coil fed by #36 (hot) on the 'down' side of the plug with the ground fed by #37K or #47G from the courtesy lamp. This relay will control the feed onward for #36 which, with the dome switches on, will cause the dome lights to come on whenever the door is opened or the courtesy lamp is manually turned on with the courtesy light switch. (The only other feed from #36 on the down side of the plug is the trunk lamp.) If I carry it through, I'll update here. Thanks, again.

On the wiring diagram for the Studebaker and early II Avantis, an (eight conductor) electrical plug is depicted which feeds the dome lights, trunk light, tail lights, gas tank sender unit and license plate light. This plug has connections for wire #'s 37G, 29, 47F, etc., and is drawn just beneath the 'Courtesy Lamp' drawing. Does anyone know where this plug is located? Thanks!

If your car was up on blocks for 27 years, your tires may be more than 27 years old and, as per above, I definitely would not drive on them. Not sure about Europe, or at least your location, but in the U.S. anyway, you can tell the age of a tire by a code on the sidewall. On the outside of the sidewall which normally is installed toward the car (i.e., if you crawl under the car, you can see the code) you'll see a block with four numbers. These numbers indicate the week and year of manufacture. 2798 - 27th week of 1998; 0417 - 4th week of 2017, etc.